There was bad news for some of those challenging the process behind the state’s medical marijuana program, but that’s good news for its future.
Ohio’s medical marijuana process can continue but hearings on complaints by applicants who were not awarded one of 25 growing licenses must be conducted by the state quickly. That’s the ruling from two Franklin County courts in recent days.
The challenge for these rulings came from companies that were denied licenses and sued, asking to stop the licensing process. Those companies claimed the scoring of the applications was incorrect and questioned the integrity of some employees.
The Department of Commerce originally approved 24 licenses, but admitted it made a departmental error and awarded a 25th growing license last week. That pleased other rejected applicants. Ohio’s medical marijuana program is supposed to be fully operational by Sept. 8th but the Commerce Department has said that doesn’t mean every company will be running at full capacity at that point.
